Neuromania

On the limits of brain science

Paolo Legrenzi and Carlo UmiltaFrances Anderson

A critical and sober appraisal of neuroimaging, showing how the biased and unquestioning use of brain imaging technology could have significant cultural effects for all of us.

Whilst not diminishing the great advances made within neuroscience, this short and accessible book is a much needed critique of science and society's obsession with all things to do with the brain

Written by an experienced psychologist and neuropsychologist

Neuromania

On the limits of brain science

Paolo Legrenzi and Carlo UmiltaFrances Anderson

Description

Neuroeconomics, neuromarketing, neuroaesthetics, and neurotheology are just a few of the novel disciplines that have been inspired by a combination of ancient knowledge together with recent discoveries about how the human brain works. The mass media are full of news items featuring colour photos of the brain, that show us the precise location in which a certain thought or emotion, or even love occurs, hence leading us to believe that we can directly observe, with no mediation, the brain at work. But is this really so? Even throughout the developed world, the general public has been seduced into believing that any study, research article, or news report, accompanied by a brain image or two is more reliable and more scientific, than one featuring more mundane illustrations.

This fascinating, accessible, and thought provoking new book questions our obsession with brain imaging. Written by two highly experienced psychologists, it discusses some of the familiar ideas usually associated wtih mind-body, brain-psyche, and nature-culture relationships, showing how the biased and unquestioning use of brain imaging technology could have significant cultural effects for all of us.

Neuromania

On the limits of brain science

Paolo Legrenzi and Carlo UmiltaFrances Anderson

Author Information

Paolo Legrenzi, Ca' Foscary University, Venice, and Carlo Umilta

Frances Anderson

Paolo Legrenzi teaches Cognitive Psychology at the University of Venice, where he directs the School of Advanced Studies. He is the author of: "The Mind" (2002), "Creativity and Innovation (2005) and" Believe "(2008).

Carlo Umilta teaches neuropsychology at the University of Padua, where he directs the Galilean School of Higher Studies. He is the author/editor of "Handbook of neuroscience" (ed., 1999) and "brain. Anatomy and structure of the Central Nervous System" (with M. Matelli, 2007).

Neuromania

On the limits of brain science

Paolo Legrenzi and Carlo UmiltaFrances Anderson

Reviews and Awards

Paolo Legrenzi and Carlo Umiltà bring a welcome appraisal of brain research to a broad audience. They provide an insightful and comprehensible overview of methods and techniques from the origins of brain science to todays MRI scanners... covering methodological aspects and controversial assumptions that are commonly unknown to the general public. - Science

Anyone who uses neuroimaging in research into mental processes should read this book. It is a provocative and stimulating critique - Philip Johnson Laird, Stuart Professor of Psychology, Princeton University

Neuroeconomics, neuroaesthetics, neuroethics, neuromarketing(!).... Why are there all these new neuro... "disciplines"? This short book gives a forceful, zany and sceptical answer from two distinguished psychologists. - Tim Shallice, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL and SISSA

Neuromania

On the limits of brain science

Paolo Legrenzi and Carlo UmiltaFrances Anderson

From Our Blog

By Paolo Legrenzi and Carlo UmlitÃ¡ Increasingly often, the press offers explanations of human behaviour by drawings, photographs, and graphic descriptions of sections of the brain which show that part of our grey matter that is activated when we think about something or plan an action. We are told that how we behave depends on the functioning of certain neurons. We hear about new disciplines such as neuroeconomics, neuroaesthetics, neuroethics, neuropolitics, neuromarketing, and even neurotheology (over 20,000 results on Google!).